Mascal Camping: SG Hill Meets Nature (part 2)

In the last post we took a look at getting to the remote and gorgeous part of India known as Mascal.

Team Race

What would a ThoughtWorks University outing be without some sort of team-based race? The 36 of us split into four teams: Black, Green, Orange, and White. We then partook in four different events for five minutes each.

1. Mine Sweeper

Our first event was the most challenging. A course was laid out with oars. Plastic pieces were in spread throughout the course. The object was to get through the course without touching anything. One other thing: we had to be blindfolded and spun around before beginning. One person would go at a time, with the rest of the team guiding. We had two attempts and zero successes.

2. The Spider Web

Our next game was also played at the only other camp I've attended: 6th grade camp. There are two poles with strings tied in criss-crossing patterns, leaving several holes open. Each member of the team must get from one side to the other without touching the strings, or going through the same opening twice. Our strategy was to have two heavyweights go through the bottom holes and send the lighter people through the top holes. One of our trainers, Felix, used his Kung-Fu skills. Demonstrated here after the completion of the games.

3. Austrailian Australian Car

I can't be sure why this is the called the Australian car, because our Australian driver let us know they've got real cars down under too. Five people from our team had to stand on the planks, hold the strings, and move together. The object was to walk as far as possible. It wasn't easy, but Team Green did quite well in my very biased opinion.

4. Inner Tube Walking

I couldn't manage to get a photo of this event -- oh how I wish these getaways had a photographer to capture all the moments. Our team had to huddle up and get as close as possible for a circumference measurement. The reason why wasn't clear, but we ended up the smallest with three lightweights on the shoulders of the three heavyweights. We then stretched an inner tube to accommodate all of us and started to walk up the hillside. The winner of this event was the team that walked the farthest.

We proudly took fourth place overall and headed to lunch. We were advised to eat a lot; there were big things in store for us.